Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Say what you want about Larry Brown and his soiled linen of a run with the Knicks, the old goat has really helped mold an extremely talented young Charlotte team into one tough comprehensive nut. The Bobcats beat the Lakers tonight, sweeping the season series from, arguably, the best team in basketball, and coupled with the Bulls loss, Charlotte has moved to within 2 games of a playoff berth. It won't be easy, but the Bobcats could very well make the playoffs. I chuckle when I think about Charlotte going head-to-head with Lebron and the Cavs, but just making the postseason is a great first step for a team definitely headed in the right direction.

In slightly more hilarious news, the Kings played host to the Hornets, and easily the loudest ovation of the night (and possibly the season) came when Vlade Divac made a not-so-rare apperance at half time. Then Peja emerged from behind Vlade's towering figure, his ailing back/knee/pride forcing him into the NBA's "board room" street clothes, his jaw hanging open slightly more than usual. It was a veritable who's who of Sacramento lore. Geoff Petrie said a few words while the Kings announcers pleasured themselves to Youtube footage of the 2002 Webber-era squad. The crowd was eating up every moment of the halftime ordeal...then the game started up again, and nobody gave a crap.

A nine game night means fantasy impact up the wa-zoo. Let's get right down to it, with a triple-helping of n.e.r.d. tonight. Theme: Windows Operating Systems.

Windows XP (I seriously contemplated Windows 3.1 for the top spot, but in the end XP did so much to eliminate freezes that I just had to give it the nod):

Wilson Chandler - 3 steals and 4 blocks! Come on folks, listen to me.

Windows 3.1 (a close 2nd place, the graphical leap from DOS allowed Joe the Plumber (early 90's edition) to get his hands on a computer, and starting booking speedy Drano appointments on a 95 lb. PC):

Flip Murray - I'm a bit skeptical myself, but Flip seems to fit right into the Hawks system. As a team, the defensive side of the ball is priority #1, but Flip provides some instant offense off the bench to jumpstart the second unit. Should hit some 3's, score some points, and maybe collect a steal or two in the process.

Kirk Hinrich - John "please pronounce the 'L'" Salmons tweaked his groin when Luol Deng allegedly greased up his hotel bathroom floor. Salmons is due back any day, but Hinrich should be solid until his return. Be careful here, though, as Hinrich could slide back into anonymity overnight.

Mike Miller - The starting lineup in Minnesota is one of my top bowel irritants. One night on the bench, the next back in the starting 5, it's so outrageously unpredictable, I just can't put Miller in the top group. When he's starting, though, he is worthy of a Windows XP.

Rodney Carney - A new name on our fantasy pickup list. Acquired in a midseason trade, Carney is getting a chance to play for the T'Wolves, and as long as Randy Foye is out, he'll be hoisting threes like they're going out of style. A specialist, and nothing more.

Andres Nocioni - The other, other Argentinian (Manu G. and Luis Scola take the cake as Tweedles Dee and Dum) looks like "the man" in Sactown again, though we've seen this before. If he's playing, he could conceivably combine 3's, rebounds, and defensive stats, but on any given night, the Kings could run 2 or 3 of their other wing forwards onto the court, and Nocioni will lay an egg. I still like him as a high-upside player if you can determine that he's starting.

Windows Vista (somehow the programmers felt improving Windows XP meant "add 75 new menus, change the names of everything, and make sure people click "OK" at least 3 times before running any scripts):

Hilton Armstrong - For some reason, fantasy "gurus" are telling folks to keep an eye on Hilton Armstrong. I suppose I'm in the minority when I say that unless you're in a 14-team league (my, what big leagues you have!), there are going to be better options available. Especially now, when 2/3 of all teams are no longer monitoring the waiver wire. And don't give me some balogna about the consolation bracket being worth the effort. Start prepping your baseball team and stop interfering with your league's perfectly good winning teams.

Website of the day - The link I posted a few days ago didn't seem to work too well (with regards to streaming video). I think I may have found a better one! Please give this site a try, and let me know how it goes. I managed to get the Kings/Hornets game on this site tonight, but I want to see if I can locate a page that posts games daily:

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